Serendipity
by Hmz0975
Summary: Leah was a broken girl, living a bitter life with no hope for the future after her fiancé left her for her cousin. The last thing she had expected though had been a boy with a sunny grin and an everlasting positive outlook in life pledging his everlasting love for her.


A/N: This is an AU. Bella never moved to Forks deciding to stay in Florida with Renee and Phil and as a result never met Edward or Jacob. The Pack phased in the same order (Except Leah who never phased) because of the Cullen's decision to reside in Forks. Hope you like it.

I had always believed that for each person only one other person was made. That person was our soul mate, our better half and the one who would make us happy and complete. That one person specially made for us would not only complete us but would also give meaning to our otherwise meaningless life and if by chance we were one of those unfortunate ones who lost that special one person then we were doomed to live a long life of loneliness and sadness with no other alternative left in life.

And for the major part of my short twenty years of age I had believed that I had been one of those few who had loved but lost that one person who completed them and now there was no hope for me to ever be happy again.

How could I be happy without him, without my Sam? He was my everything, all my firsts and a world in which he was not mine was an unimaginable thought that had never even crossed my mind. How could it, Leah and Sam were never apart. We had been best friends from even before either of us could speak or walk, our mothers who were best friends had made sure of that. We had played together in our playpens, had fought with one another at the age when the idea of girls and boys being friends was preposterous and had even been one another's rock when his father had left his mother a few weeks after his eight birthday or when my father had expired in a car accident when I was fifteen leaving me broken beyond words. We not only understood the spoken words but in those moments we had understood one another's silence too and that was what had made me believe that Sam was the 'one' who was made for me and I could not have been happier. I had felt as if all my birthdays and Christmases had come together for once.

My world though had crumbled when I had been at the peak of my life. I was engaged to my childhood sweetheart and our life of happily ever after was just about to begin when all of a sudden he had disappeared for two weeks with no explanation to give for it. I had cried for days at his disappearance while my mother and Allison Uley who too was equally distraught had held me while I cried and prayed that my Sam would return back to me safe but the Sam that had returned was neither safe nor mine. He would disappear for hours with no explanation to give for it and I would often see him enter and leave the woods in just a pair of cutoffs even in the middle of the night and whenever questioned about it he would start shaking and run out of the house in a hurry.

I was on the crossroads between right and wrong, between who I was and who I wished to be. The part of me that only wanted Sam with her, no matter the consequences wished to ignore Sam's strange newly found idiosyncrasies. At least he was still mine it argued. The nights when he would be at home and would hold me tightly in his arms as if afraid that he would blink and I would disappear were one of my favorites. He would whisper promises of love and our forever in my ears making me blush and fall in love with him even more, if that was possible. He was perfect and he was mine and the part of me that wanted answers of where he went and why, was pushed to the back. He was here and that was important. Nothing else mattered in the world.

But just like every dream has to end when you wake up no matter how 'good' or 'perfect' it was, one fine day I woke up to realize that the world around me had changed, leaving me there in the middle of the road, alone and cold with no way to reach my destination.

It was a usual day like any other and I was leaving for my shift at the Ateara's general store in La Push while Sam munched on a sandwich that I had quickly put together for him when the doorbell had rung all of a sudden. I had frowned assuming it to be my mother with some last minute work or some gossip that just could not be shared on the phone or worse my younger brother Seth who was the most cheerful and never shutting up person to exist in the world on the other side of the door. Now I loved my family to pieces but really I was getting late for work and their coming over so early in the morning was just unexpected for me.

I had opened the door with half a mind to shout at the person who had rung the bell only for my mouth to fall open in shock when I had seen who was on the other side.

"Emily" I had cried out hugging my best friend and only cousin on my mom's side and who I had not seen in months despite the fact that she lived just a few hours away from me. She was the same age as me and had been busy running a small confectionary business from home. She had plans to open her own chain of bakeries and chocolate shops in the future but for now she was on the first step of the long stepladder.

She had apologized for coming without informing in advance but it had been a last minute plan she had said. One of her clients who wanted to order a huge box of her special dark chocolate and hazelnut candies had wished to meet her and so she had made the journey from the Makah reservation to La Push so early in the morning, only for her clothes to get drenched in the rain that had caught her by surprise when she had got out of the car on reaching here. I had offered her my bathroom and a spare change of clothes, apologizing for leaving her alone telling her that I really needed to be at work. I had already taken a lot of days off that month owing to a viral infection and there was no way I could miss another day.

She had smiled assuring me that it was okay and she would finish her meeting and come back in the evening for us to have an early dinner together in the diner in Forks before she left back for home and then I had committed the biggest mistake of my life….. one that I still regretted.

Only if I had done something different deciding that I could indeed skip work on that day and be at home with Sam maybe things could have been different but then again now that I knew the truth I knew it would have been a futile effort. 'Destiny cannot be stopped' as my mother had put it after everything was over and my life as I had known it had changed forever.

I had turned and introduced Emily to Sam before running out of the house telling them that I would see them in the evening at the diner, rushing there from work directly but the sight that I had witnessed in the evening of that day was one I could never forget.

Only if I had known before-hand that I had been the catalyst in my own sadness, pain and trauma and held a major part in dooming my own life. The air around us three during dinner had been heavy and tense as Sam had looked at Emily every few seconds only for her to shy away and look elsewhere, their body language though conveying a secret shared between them both that was well hidden from me and the rest of the world.

And then slowly day by day I had seen my Sam drift away mentally and emotionally, only for the final nail in the coffin to be hit when I saw my fiancé and my cousin kiss in the backyard of the same house that I shared with said fiancé three weeks later.

"Leah" said a loud cheerful voice distracting from my personal purgatory in the form of these thoughts going round and round in my own head, without ever stopping.

"Jacob" I said in an expressionless monotone, not even looking at him. I did not need to look up to know that he was near me.

A curse in the form of the word 'imprinting' had forced it upon me making sure that I knew at all times of his whereabouts and if he was near or not. My heart would unwillingly and involuntarily start beating a million miles a minute when he was near almost like it was radar inbuilt within me that jumped up in joy every time that he was around.

He pouted sitting on my bed beside me, did I mention without asking if it was okay which I would have answered with a big no to, if asked. I did not want his or anyone else's company like I had said before… a million times to all of them.

"Why do you insist on calling me Jacob?" he frowned like a small wounded puppy "You know that I like to be called Jake"

"And you know that I like to be left alone but do you do so?" I deadpanned

Yes, I was bitter. Yes, I was angry and Yes, I was a sarcastic bitch that removed her anger on everyone else.

He gave me a huge grin in return confusing me.

Wait! Had I cracked a joke without me even realizing of it? Now that was some talent.

"You know I can't do that Leah. You and I are meant to be baby. Fate says so" he said simply almost like stating a fact.

"Don't you fucking dare call me baby" I growled out with a glare "I am not your 'baby' and I don't give a flying shit about what Fate or some old fashioned legends say. I don't believe in Fate. It is a bunch load of crap out there to destroy people's lives"

He smiled "But I do believe in Fate and accept it or not, I will be here waiting for you on the day when you are ready to be mine. I can wait on the sidelines till then, no matter how long the wait is"

It was moments like this that would force me to think over my actions. If I was justified in treating Jacob like crap just because of a phenomenon that he had equally no control over. He had not chosen to imprint on the harpy bitch of La Push but still here he was, stuck with me.

"Did Seth let you in or was it my mom this time around?" I asked trying to change the topic. Apparently my family and the few friends that I had remaining had taken it upon themselves to push me and Jacob together… most probably to win the matchmaker of the year award or something because no matter how many times I mentioned that I was just not interested, they just did not fucking quit.

"Oh no" he said with a shake of the head "It was Charlie who let me in. Your mom had to run to the store or something last minute before they left for Forks so he was here waiting for her, though Seth was with him watching the game in the den. I spoke to him for a few minutes on my way up. Great Kid, was glad to see me" he said with a nod and proud smile to himself.

"Wow just wow" I muttered under my breath though I knew that Jacob clearly heard me, thanks to his wolfy senses. Wasn't it enough that 'my traitor brother who adored Jacob even more than me, his own blood' and 'my mother who was almost ready to start calling Jacob 'son'' were already on Team Jacob that now even my mom's close friend in public aka secret boyfriend in private too had to join their team? I just don't understand what the obsession really is.

Was no one really Team Leah here?

"I am always Team Leah" he said with a smirk "I promise"

"Wait, did I just that out loud?" I asked embarrassed wishing to wipe that ridiculous smirk off his face.

He nodded his head once leaving me mortified "So actually I wanted to ask you something..."

"No in advance" I interrupted him making him laugh a loud sound that rumbled deep from within, lightening the entire room with just one sound.

That was Jacob Ephraim Black in a nutshell. Always happy, always smiling, almost making you wonder if he had just won the lottery or something. It was ironical and rather surprising that the happiest boy of La Push had been tied to the never smiling, always angry girl of La Push. Maybe Fate's way to balance nature or some shit… or maybe the spirits just hated Jacob.

Yeah that was the more plausible option.

Though in all honesty Seth was pretty much a competition to Jacob in the always happy category, the boy never even cried or complained as a kid when I used to assert my right as an older sister and bully him into agreeing with me or rather just snatch the TV remote from his hands while he was watching his cartoons, he was like an angel my mother used to say.

But coming back to the point at hand… Jacob Black and his never ending ray of happiness and sunshine that was hell bent on bringing light to my sky filled with dark clouds, no matter the fact that I was perfectly happy with those dark clouds.

"So like I was saying" he continued as if I had never interrupted him "There is a bonfire tonight on first beach and it would be good if you came. I would really like it and the other imprints miss you and keep asking of you"

I frowned at him as I thought back to the one and only bonfire that I had attended which as a matter of fact had changed my life. It had been around two months back when my mother had come and told me that there was a special gathering on First beach to be attended by all the council members and their families and as a respect to my late father who was a council member, I too should attend.

Seth had been nervous and jittery throughout the entire short ride and that itself should have been my first clue that something was wrong but like the fool I was, I ignored the first signs of trouble and continued with the ride to my own doom.

And then for the unsuspecting and unable to catch a hint even when it is directly thrown on their face in the form of a brick people like me came the second hint that something was terribly about to be wrong when we had walked close to where the others were assembled and suddenly everyone had gone silent. It was so silent that I could have possibly heard a pin drop. People all around, some known some not so known were staring at me like I was a pariah while my eyes were fixed upon the couple who I took every effort possible in the world to avoid.

Sam and Emily

It was ridiculously funny in a way if you see. A year and a half back, when Sam had dumped me for my own cousin he had been engaged to me and now he was engaged to her while I stood and watched them whereas the last time in my place had been Emily. This time around it was her who was cozily wrapped into his arms while just a year and half back that had been me. It was almost as if she had taken my place while I had been forced into hers, the one where I looked at the happy couple from the outside wishing that I also had what they had.

"Leah" My mother had said sympathetically as she had taken my hand and pulled me towards one of the empty seats while the murmuring around me started again. I had taken a deep breath calming myself down deciding to stick to my original plan of ignoring Sam Uley and had looked in the other direction to see who else was here.

Jared Cameron who I had seen a few times in passing was sitting on one of the corners with a girl with black shoulder length hair and black eyes sitting in his lap giggling at what he was saying. Next to him sat Quil Ateara the self proclaimed Casanova of La Push who was talking to Embry Call who was too shy for his own good sometimes and next to them were Paul Lahote the ex Lothario of La Push now loyal tame boyfriend of Rachel Black and said Rachel Black herself. Rachel had waved at me from her place, one which I had returned not so enthusiastically but nonetheless returned. Rachel and I had been friends since years having technically grown up together and despite the fact that she had left for Seattle after high school while I had stayed back here to be with Sam, our friendship had never really suffered much. We had picked up from where we had dropped when she had returned to La Push to meet Billy on a weekend and apparently had fallen in love with Paul Lahote out on all on first sight and so, she was probably the only one who was exempt from my mood swings and rage that saw everyone else as an enemy.

My eyes had then fallen on Jacob Black who to my surprise had been looking at me with a difficult for me to comprehend expression on his face. He had waved too with a smile on face but I had ignored it this time around. For two reasons mainly, first we were not friends. He was just my friend's annoying younger brother and second and more importantly being kind and nice was really not my cup of tea or coffee for that matter.

"So Leah" said Billy Black with a cough, making me look at him "I am now going to be reciting the legends of our tribe. You must have heard them before but just pay attention to them"

"Umm okay" I said awkwardly unable to comprehend of why I had been singled out for this. There were so many young adults and teenagers here who probably did not give a shit for these stories, why just me?

Damn it! Billy's own son and daughter were here. Why not tell them also to pay attention? Didn't he care if they remembered this stuff or not?

Billy had then gone on to tell us or rather me, from the way he was continuously looking at me the legends of our tribe while I could feel eyes on me throughout.

Apparently the people here had nothing better to do in life than to watch me. I had glared at Quil who I had caught staring and he had quickly looked elsewhere like the coward he was.

"So did you like it?" asked Billy once he had finished telling me the stories of Taha Aki and his third wife which as a matter of fact I did remember from when my father used to tell me these stories growing up.

"Yeah" I said with a hesitant nod. They were legends, what was there to like or dislike about them? Also again why was I being singled out?

"Jake" said Billy motioning towards Jacob to come closer and just like that the air around became even tenser than before. What was going on? Why was Jacob being called to the dais like he was a guest lecturer about to start his extra long lecture on the most boring topic in the world?

"Leah" Jacob had started "The legends that you just heard of Taha Aki and the third wife, it is all true. I am a shape shifter and I have imprinted on you"

Wait what! Way to rip the band-aid off genius.

My first reaction to his words was to laugh and then I laughed some more, almost falling down my chair as I clutched my stomach with my hands. God! This was hilarious. Who could think to prank someone like this? It was crazy.

"This is not a joke or a prank. Jake is saying the truth" said Seth bringing me out of my laugh attack. I looked at him with my mouth half way between open and close and an expression of disbelief placed on my face.

"You mean to tell me that Jacob here can change into a damn wolf at will?" I asked him raising my eyebrow at his stupidity.

"Not just him" said Seth sighing "All of us here. We are a pack"

I had then to my shock received an entire 101 on everything wolf from how Sam was the first to phase followed by Jared, Paul, Embry, Jacob, Quil and finally Seth, my own younger brother who had phased for the first time just over a month back. Billy who had taken over from Seth had then told me of what imprinting or the spirit's way of gifting the shape shifter with a soul mate was and how Sam had imprinted on Emily followed by Jared on Kim and Paul on Rachel and lastly and most recently Jacob on me. He had then added much to my displeasure of how Jacob and my life was tied to one another from then and how Jacob could never be able to live without me to which my answer had been a snort followed by a sarcastic 'join the club of losers pining for someone whose heart belongs to another'.

"So" drawled out Jacob bringing my attention back the present where he sat staring at me with an expectant look on his face. Right… bonfire tonight.

"Umm okay fine whatever" I said waving my hands in air in nonchalance, anything to get Jacob Black to leave me alone.

"Great" said Jacob rubbing his hands together in glee, getting close to me almost like he was going to hug me before taking a step back realizing his error, Good boy!

"So pick me up at six" I said pointing towards my door signaling him to get out now.

"Sure Sure" he said with his infamous grin before he exited my room and possibly the house. I guess a girl could dream.

The evening came by faster than I would have preferred and sooner than I had thought I was forced by Rachel who had self invited herself over to help me get ready for the bonfire despite my best efforts to convince her that I needed no help.

"Rach" I said hesitantly as she pulled and prodded through my waist length hair in an attempt to make a messy side braid "I treat your brother like shit. Why don't you hate me or better yet why doesn't he hate me?"

This was a question that had always confused me of why the Blacks did not detest me. I treated their son and brother like complete crap, not even giving him the time of the day but yet Billy was always genuinely nice to me when I visited with my mom and Rachel, she went out of the way to help me at times.

She smiled looking at me as if she knew something I didn't "I will tell you a secret. Jake secretly loves it"

"Loves what?" I asked skeptically

"He loves that fire that you have within you. It gives him a boost he says. Forces him to be better, to be on his toes at all times"

"So he likes it when I taunt him, argue with him, call him names?" I asked in disbelief

She laughed "Yes, surprisingly yes"

"But how can anyone like that? I insult him and try to prick at his ego at all times in an attempt to make him leave me alone?" I argued back not ready to believe what she had just said.

"Oh Leah" she said taking my hand in hers in a sympathetic way "My brother was never one to judge a book by its cover. He says that he can see the real you underneath all this anger and pain that you have buried within you. He says that he can see how hurt you are and how scared you are of being hurt again and so you push people away from you so that they cannot leave you and go and he also says that if that is what you need in life he is ready to be your punching bag too"

"But why" I shouted frustrated and annoyed by one Jacob Black "Why would anyone want to be someone's punching bag in life?"

She nodded her head "I know it is not conventional and most probably not what a therapist would recommend but he says that you need to heal and he loves you enough to do it for you"

"He loves me?" I asked in shock turning to look at her "Rachel be serious, he does not even know me. This is the imprint talking"

She shook her head with a sad smile "No Leah. This is not the imprint talking. These are Jacob's real feelings. You remember how every year on Valentine's Day someone used to leave a handmade card in your locker and how you used to complain of having a crazy stalker who was in love with you"

"Yeah and Sam had threatened to kill him when he found out who that person was but how is this relevant here… wait that was Jacob?" I asked with my eyes wide in shock.

She nodded her head as a small smile broke out on her face "Believe it or not. That was my crazy brother whose hormones were raging out of control"

"Wow" I murmured taken by surprise "Who would have guessed, huh"

"Yeah he always acted like he was infatuated by that mousy clumsy Isabella Swan to avoid being found out" she said agreeing with me "But Leah, give him a chance. I promise you, you won't regret it"

I shook my head firmly "But Sam…"

"Leah I know that you loved him, possibly do still love him and I also know that what you both shared was really good, like a safe harbor and so you are afraid to move on but you cannot live in the past. One fine day you have to let go. I know that you must have heard this lines a million times by now that move on and let him go and I also know that if it was that easy, you would have done it years back but Leah, you need to try. You can't just quit and Fate is giving you another chance, not everyone gets that in life"

"He was my everything Rachel" I said as a tear fell down my eyes "How can you let go of your childhood dream that you have lived for years?"

"Every dream ends in the morning Leah" "And if one dream doesn't end, how will you see another possibly better dream huh?"

I shook my head. I did not want to see any other dream but this.

She sighed "Okay we will talk about this later. Jake should be here to pick you up any moment now and he will kill me if he sees that I made you cry and then Paul will get angry and kill Jake and then Billy will come into the picture and you get the point right?" she asked playfully making me smile.

"See that is how I like my future sister in law, always smiling" she said with a wink

"Rachel" I chided her at her sister in law comment

"Oh come on, you know it is the truth" she said with a laugh as she left the room, leaving me alone to ponder over my thoughts.

It is not the truth, right?

The bonfire was in full swing by the time Jacob and I reached First beach. All the pack boys were playing a game of football while the imprints sat talking within themselves and the elders had formed their own group on one of the sides bickering and gossiping within themselves. I smiled at Kim and Rachel, ignoring Emily's nervous wave as no matter how much time passed things would never go back to like they were before between us, before sitting on the smooth sand seeing the boys and specifically Jacob play.

It seemed that Jacob was a natural when it came to sports and just looking at him in his space doing what he liked, was mesmerizing enough to not make me look anywhere else. The way his body moved, the way he flexed his arms, the way sweat rolled down his chiseled bare chest…

"Hey you okay?" asked Jacob sitting next to me making me realize that I had been so lost in my own thoughts that I had not even realized when he had stopped playing and moved from there.

"Yeah why wouldn't I be?" I asked a bit flushed at being caught unaware

He shrugged "I just thought you looked lost"

I shook my head trying to act as confident and as normal as possible. This was Jacob Black, what was possibly wrong with me that I was thinking such thoughts for him?

He opened his mouth to say something before we were rudely interrupted by Quil telling everyone that Embry was ready to play a song and so everyone should settle down.

Huh? I had not even known that the boy had it in him to sing and play the guitar. I guess the shy ones do get that advantage of surprising the others.

Everyone soon sat around the fire in a circle as Embry started playing a slow melodious track on the guitar while he sang along with it in a deep soothing voice.

"So a dance my lady?" asked Jacob with his familiar calming grin. A grin that stated that everything was okay, that everything was going to be okay no matter what happened in the future and till I am here you have nothing to worry about.

I took a deep breath as I looked from his outstretched hand to his black eyes. It was as if his eyes were talking, telling me to trust him, telling me that from now on my troubles were his and his happiness was mine however corny that sounded.

I smiled, a real smile after ages taking the risk and taking the jump. Yes, I was terrified but somehow a part of me knew that everything would work out in the end "Sure Jake, I would like that"

'_You're my serendipity. I wasn't looking for you. I wasn't expecting you. But I am very lucky I met you' _


End file.
